Campbell close to signing new deal

According to Kevin Paul Dupont, the Bruins are close to signing Gregory Campbell to a 2 year contract worth a reported 1.2 million per season. Campbell will center the fourth line and may be a primary penalty killer this season. However, if this reported cap hit is correct, then Chiarelli overpayed quite a bit. A fourth line center should not be making more than a million dollars. Despite the lack of consistency from Steve Begin and Stephane Yelle, both of them are better options at 750K-850K per season.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 4:56 pm and is filed under Bruins, Rumor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Dupont a fucking idiot!! There’s no damn way Campbell is signing for that much and would probably be lucky to make the team. If they do sign him to that much then PC has lost his mind and heart for the team. I don’t think that Neely will sign off on it however. Seguin and the other prospects in our system i think are much more important, but then again Campbell could come up with a 50 point season (in a snowball’s chance in hell). If we do sign him for that much I guess that would mean we’re getting close to getting rid of Thomas, Ryder, and/or Savard.

All of our cap troubles go away if Ryder is sent to Providence. I just hope Jacobs is willing to give away $4 million to help the team. Judging by the past you wouldn’t think he would be willing to do it.

There’s a pretty good chance Marc Savard won’t be with the Bruins at training camp in September.

There are still trade scenarios out there even though Savard survived the frenzied first day of NHL free agency.

The B’s spoke with several teams about deals for the playmaking center, and those exploratory conversations went well beyond the Maple Leafs and Senators . . . teams to which Savard would willingly relocate, because it would move him closer to his family.

But nothing came of discussions with the Flames and Canucks, among others – it’s become pretty clear Peter Chiarelli is looking for a top-four defenseman in exchange for their top offensive center – and the B’s are at least putting up a unified satisfaction front if this is what they’ve got when the players arrives in training camp.

“I said going into this period that we’d look into some trades and we still will as we let the market shake out a bit,” said Chiarelli. “As far as needs right now, I don’t really have any pressing needs as far as purely acquiring anyone on the free-agent market. I don’t think you’ll see much from us in the next couple of days.”

On its face, however, the effort to move Savard has many scratching their heads vigorously.

After all, Savard just committed to a cap-friendly, seven-year contract extension last season, and his look of pure elation after scoring the overtime game-winner of Game One against the Flyers was one of the lasting images of the entire Stanley Cup playoffs.

The pass-happy center has been an integral part of a Black-and-Gold squad on an upward trend since he first arrived as a free agent, and he’s been given heaps of credit for becoming more of a two-way player since arriving in Boston. He’s also been among the leading assist men in the entire NHL since arriving on the scene in Boston before injuries and a hellacious concussion bite into his last season.

All of those pro-Savard factors have caused many to wonder aloud if it was off-the-ice issues driving much of the current Savard trade talk.

The rumors seemed to coincide with Cam Neely’s ascension to the B’s presidency, and the belief Neely is as unimpressed with Savard’s game as his predecessor, Harry Sinden, who disparagingly compared the center to an ineffectual .300 singles hitter in baseball.

I think if Sturm cannot remain healthy and consistent next year we should look for a trade at the deadline perhaps, or let him go. Too much cap space to be risking. He did lead the Bruins in scoring last season with 22 goals, which is pretty sad. With the addition or Horton and drafting Seguin we’ll have a strong club next season, but signing Campbell for $1.2million/year does not help the cap or the signing of draft picks. It makes you look at the perspective that Savard could actually be leaving after we got him someone who can actually put the puck in the net. I wish we could find a way to keep Savard but dump Ryder and Thomas for picks and prospects. I’d dump those two for picks and prospects in a heartbeat. Save $9million on the cap and get some possible fresh talent.

I agree but we still need a puck moving defenseman ….so I think picks and a prospect wouldn’t suit the needs right now and on top of it all were stacked in both those categories now we need a NHL ready/veteran player in any deal where we move Timmy or savard

chris, chris, chris. dont get ahead of yourself. how good is horton REALLY going to be if we trade his center? yea, he can play with krejci or bergeron (or maybe seguin i guess?) but the point is, we just landed ONE scoring winger and now we’ll get rid of the playmaking center?

outside of horton we cant really COUNT on any other winger to improve drastically over last year unless we have the best possible centers on their lines.

I can’t believe the reports that cammpbell will make 1.2 million. What that means is that 2 of the three fourth liners will make over a million dollars (speaking of Paille) which to me makes no sense at all. The only solution to our cap problem that would benefit us is by sending ryder to the minors. Trading Savard just means a salary dump,so reports of getting a top 4 D-man for him doesn’t help our cap situation unless there is a top 4 D-man that makes 1 million or less.

yah but dumping savard or Timmy would give us the cap flexibility to get a top 4 d-man and we always spend to the cap regardless no matter what we get and looking at this roster that’s the only thing were missing now u gotta make sure u fill the needs of the roster before u worry bout being against the cap next year…..the time is now for a cup !!!!!!!

IF this is true, it again shows how PC does not have a PLAN. Look at Chicago & Pittsburgh. Of course, they had to work from the ground up, with Keith/Toews/Kane & Fleury/Crosby/Malkin, respectively. But the fact is they had their core players and built around them. They had a PLAN.

What is our plan? Signing Savvy & Chara was great because it gave us our core players. Couple that with Krecji and suprising farm players like Lucic, Hunwick, and Boychuk and we were starting to build something great. Wheeler was a good sign and Recchi was an exceptional one.

But then, let’s give Sturm an NTC. Let’s give Ryder $4 mil. Let’s give TT (who I love) a FOUR year contract when we have Rask waiting in the wings. Let’s give an oft-injured, no. 5 D in Ference 2.25 mil! Let’s trade for a D (Seidenberg, who I do think is solid) at the deadline when we’re one of the worst scoring teams in the league. Let’s potentially trade our best offensive player, and use the excuse of the TTM call, even though we should’ve NEVER BEEN in that fucking position in the first place! Let’s sign 2 4th liners for $1 mil + when we’re tight aganist the cap!

Very honestly, there’s been as many WTF moves by PC as there has been good ones. What is disheartening is that it seems we make moves/signings and then try to figure it out as we go along. It means the lack of a PLAN!

Campbell’s points went DOWN last year and we might potentially give him a FUCKING RAISE?!! WTF?!!!

Listen, we’re all B’s fans here and ultimately want a Cup in a duck boat on the Charles. But I just wonder sometimes what PC’s exact plan is. When he makes a good move, it makes you feel good and think he has one, but then hearing something like this just makes you think no one on Causeway knows what the fuck they’re doing!

Obviously he’s got a plan retard if we still need to sign Seguin and others with only a reportedly 500K left. It just means we may be lowering the asking price for Thomas/Ryder/Savard. Someone has to go and unfortunately I think its going to be Savard. Unless the Thomas talks have come back up.

Brendan, go fuck yourself. If I am a retard, then you’re saying that the PLAN was to sign Savard & Thomas to big contracts and then trade them in a year or less? How does that make ANY sense at all?

The point is that they sign these guys to big contracts and then go “oh,shit” when they realize they have to sign Seguin and others. That’s not a PLAN, that’s a REACTION to the hole you’ve dug yourself into.

Save for Horton (whose salary is basically substituted for Wideman) PC knew EXACTLY where his payroll would’ve stood entering this season. It’s the fact that, despite that, he signed Ference to a ridiculously overpriced contract, as well as Paille and possibly Campbell. If he had any plans to trade Savard, why didn’t he do it BEFORE signing him to a cap-friendly, long term deal? Because he thought, until recently, Savard would be part of this team for the next few years. It’s only b/c he went and screwed this team over, cap-wise, that he HAS to make a move which probably involves Savard.

That’s the problem. Many of these moves are REACTIONARY as opposed to putting the B’s in a position to PLAN and make moves based on their choice, not what they’re FORCED to do..

Andy I love your first sentence by the way, but what I meant by a plan was an upcoming one to move salary around to sign these other guys. I don’t wanna move Savard because we just got Horton, but Ryder and Thomas need to go for a low price to give us some room. His plan would be to move someone sometime soon, so don’t get on my back with your bullshit comments.

Geez! Another spastic bout of hammering PC before he has a chance to do his job.

PC has had a plan for a long while. He is not acting reactionary…he is acting DYNAMICALLY. Much different, and often dynamic decision making leaves many very confused. Decisions are made with the foresight that the “projected” outcome of a contract might need to be re-assessed. If an airplanes course is heading towards an unexpected mountain…should we “stay on target”, or pull up? You fuckin pull up! Dynamic thinking is the best thinking.

I hope to god he doesn’t trade Savvy, and he really shouldn’t have to. There are plenty of options, and he doesn’t need to rush into any stupid decisions.

The fact that Sturm is out on the LTIR, give him plenty of time to trade Thomas or Ryder, or make another decision WELL before its any kind of problem for the Bruins. I guarantee there will be desperate teams eying Thomas and Ryder 6 weeks in.

Everyone calm the fuck down, and get off PC’s back. The guy has done wonders for this team. Once a team is starving for a goalie or someone who can shoot, the Bruins assets will become more desirable.

So, according to my calculations on capgeek.com, prior to these signings, we had 1.6875 mil in cap space. Mcquaid and Campbell are the only ones on one-way contracts, hence the only ones that count. Let’s say Campbell is 1.1, Mcquaid $750k (made $600k last year and we know that EVERYONE needs to get a fucking raise on this squad). We are now over the cap by about $200k. That is WITHOUT Seguin.

As it stands, we have 11 F, 7 D (including Mcquaid) and 2 G’s. 20 players and we are already over the cap!

It’s obvious someone has to be shipped out, especially to get Seguin under the cap.

This is where I struggle. Savvy? If I’m PC, not in a million fucking years. Ryder? Well, without him & Sturm, that’s 30 goals combined that we’d be missing. Even though they’re consistent, I just don’t know if you replace that. Wheels? Well, he HAS to be gone now.

I know I’m going to get burned for this, but I honestly look at Bergeron. I love Bergy, but since we’re fucked by the cap and he’s going to be a UFA next year, maybe we can get some stud minor leaguers/picks for him. It saves 4.75 off the cap and you can move Seguin into the #3 center slot. Is this something I would be happy to do? Absolutely not. But we are certainly screwed by the cap and something’s got to give. I just think if we let go of Savvy and kept Bergy & Krecji as our top 2 centers, we’re going to struggle to score again..

you would trade one of the best two way centerman in the league…where is your brain…ryder blows…and sturm is injury prone…your making up there goals with horton and seguin coming in…and then you have a healthy savvy and lucic….thats where your 30 goals will come from…

now that the bruins are over (or SLIGHTLY under) i think we all know someone has to go. i play nhl 10 alot, and i know we cant compare, and i wont, but when attempting trades in there each player has trade “value.”

lets play a little game. based on trade value, does trading the certain player hurt us or help us…

Wheeler – 2mil (ish? arguable) still young, big forward that has potential to hit sportscenter top 10. former #5 overall pick. could be attractive to many clubs. will it save you lots of money? no. will it net you a good pick or prospect? maaaaybe. take any trade? absolutely not.

Thomas – 5mil – veteran goalie that is 1 year removed from a vezina. teams would be getting boners over timmy on the trading block, problem is: his contract. thanks pc. trade him to the first team that goes fishing and sell low because saving 5 mil is a jackpot.

Bergeron – 4.75mil – expiring contract. solid player. brings it at both ends, and off the ice. captain material. a trade would save you cap room but would not send a good vibe through the locker room. if we trade savard would bergy accept a similar long term deal for a discount? why would he!? keep him at any price. fact is, what any team would offer him would not be worth his loss.

Chara – 7.5mil – expiring contract. clearly theres no other player in the league as intimidating than Z. however, after this year, whats the plan for him? does he take a discount? what would we get in return for the captain? is losing him plausible? not right now. at the deadline maybe if this is a sinking ship.

Lucic – 4mil – nope. neely will keep this kid forever. thank god.

krejci – 3.75mil – IMO his cap hit is high, hes still very young, and has ended the last two seasons with injuries. he still has upside, but he also has high value. if i were in charge, and depending on the offers, i would keep savard over krejci, save similar money, and land something pretty in exchange.

Wideman – 3.9mil – He is one year removed from an aweso…. what? we already traded him? oh, nice!

Stuff Ryder down in the AHL.
Nothing convinces me that he will be any better than last season, even if he is in a contract year. The last ‘contract year’ he played was with the habs, and he had his lowest production ever, and while I think he is capable of bringing on more game this season, he is going to be costing the b’s way too much cap room. I would rather give Wheeler another chance to prove himself over Ryder, and he will come at a lesser cap hit.

People, Ur gonna lose alot of sleep, and hair if you keep reading and believing every little rumour you hear on the Net! Lets not start jumping the gun yet regarding Savard! Im pretty sure Chiar will trade Wheeler or others before he trades Savvy! Just because Chia looks stupid, Doesnt mean he is!! Like I said before I cant see Chia shipping out our best point producer after signing him to a long term contract just to fit mediocre players like McQuad, Wheeler and Campbell! Thats just Silly!

I agree….the only real rumours are about Savvy wanting to be closer to family which Im sure all players would love. Also, chia was just listening to offers on savard as something needs to happen and his job is to listen to rumours. The only thing that is fishy is the Neely hates Savy campaign that “someone” has “implied” thats it.
I NEED to see a Lucic Savard Horton line!!

All the #’w work for all teams. The Bruins get a young stud of a D in Giordana and a great young talented forward in Backlund. Surely we must have have a young stud in Providence ready to fill the void of Savvy. Colbourne perhaps?

In regards to Bergy, has anyone stopped to consider that he is a UFA a year from now? I think everyone ASSUMES that he is going to re-sign. What if he DOESN’T?! AND you trade Savvy? Then you’re down to Krecji & Seguin. That’s A LOT of hope that they can both be #1 & #2 centers. Of course, I hope they will, but that’s worst-case scenario regarding our “depth” at center. Sure, Hamill, Colborne, and Suave are coming up, but who knows what they’ll bring? Too much “crossing your fingers” in this scenario.

Which brings me back to Bergy. Let me be extremely clear here – I think Bergy is a GREAT, 2-WAY center and a great leader to boot. I’m not suggesting that we trade Bergy b/c I don’t like him. I’m saying it because his contract is choking us, but only because of the cap situation. If we had cap space, then I would say no fucking way! But what everyone has to realize is that’s it a business and that you have to leave emotion at the door.

This is the way I look at it. We have 2 centers. Savvy, who is our best offensive player and one of the best passers in the league on an offensively starved team. He has a cap-friendly, long-term, deal. Now, Bergy,is a UFA in a year. Although he was our leading scorer, that’s not saying much (a 41 YO was our 4th). He is a great 2-way player, but he’s NOT a #1 center. On top of that, if we had a choice, our offense would suffer worse if we kept Bergy and traded Savvy. Do we lose a top PK & faceoff guys? Yes, but in Julien’s system, defense is not the problem and I think we could adjust. I don’t think I could say the same for our offense if we traded Savvy. Lastly, and this is something that is easily forgotten – what if Bergy gets a THIRD concussion? He has an injury history and sure, if it was career-threatening, we could eliminate the salary from the cap, but we also lose a top center.

My point is, that there is no easy way out of this. If we trade Savvy, we lose offense. If we trade Bergy, we lose a great 2-way center and leader. I wish we weren’t in this position, but we are. It’s the reality.

I’m just saying as much as I truly wouldn’t want to trade Bergy, you would be trading a guy that can get you A LOT in return, in the way of prospects/picks for a guy who COULD WALK in a year. Try to leave how you personally feel about Bergy at the door for a second and really think about what I’m proposing – not out of dislike – but because we would probably be forced to…

You’re still undervaluing Bergeron here. How many times have you seen him go into a corner and not come out of it with the puck? When he gets the puck on his stick down low he doesn’t lose it. He’s the best player I’ve ever seen at getting the puck in the corners and getting it back to the point to open up chances for the defense. And while Savard is one of the best passers in the world, Bergeron’s playmaking ability isn’t that far off. He makes passes every game where you wonder how the hell he does it, only to have Sturm shank 99% of them. If you put Seguin or even Caron on his line with him instead of Sturm his point totals will go up even further.

He was the best player on the Bruins on a remarkably consistent basis and lets not forget that his main role was to shutdown the opposition. According to BehindTheNet he was the player that faced the highest level of competition in the entire league.

His concussion history is no more disturbing thna Savard’s now, and I feel fine going forward with both guys.

Bergeron our top player right now. THere’s no way we should trade him because he makes $4.75 million.

Oh, and as far as Ryder goes, I would have no problem sending him to the minors, but you’re also talking about a potential 20-25 goal scorer, even as inconsistent as he is. They don’t exactly grow on trees.

I just read Jimmy Murphy on ESPNBoston.com saying that, in fact, Sturm WILL be on long term reserve, so we do get that until he comes back. That might be enough time to have Ryder prove himself and if he doesn’t, down to Providence he goes.

I HATE that we’re in this cap position, because I LOVE the team that we have right now (except for Ference, Ryder, and Sturm). I just wish we could keep them all!!

i tend to agree slightly with andy. but dude, you havent looked at it from another teams point of view. lets say the bruins were shopping bergeron. what would you give up for him?

the things he does do dont often show up on the stat sheet but they do help this team immensely. (not that im worried but…) he does have an injury history, a high cap hit, and he is not a #1 center. what teams out there are looking for a depth center, at that price, enough to give away youth and “stud” players? correct me if im wrong but we have LOTS of prospects with high potential as well as two first rounders next year.

Pearson makes a strong point. The Leafs haven’t improved their team a whole heck of a lot to put their draft pick above 10. If you do see that move, tell me, but I think the Bruins will have another top 10 maybe or (very unlikely) top 5 pick next year if they are lucky. What are we going to do with that player if he’s NHL ready. Would that mean Seguin take over Bergy’s spot and have our new pick join the team. Its really just a wait and see.

Look at our cap situation next year. Bergeron, Chara, Stuart, Ryder, Sturm and Recchi and are all coming off the books. That’s ~$22.5 million in those 6 players.

The last 3 will not be back, and Stuart might not be either if we get a young guy in the system or hit the jackpot with Larsson or Murphy in next year’s draft.

We have plenty of guys on ELC’s (or will be on an ELC) to take the spots of Ryder, Sturm and Recchi who will definitely be ready next year (if they aren’t already) in Colborne, Caron, Sauve, Knight, etc. That means we’ll replace $8.5 million with under $3 million depending on bonuses.

With all that said why would you trade a guy like Bergeron? Having a bunch of good centers isn’t a problem. And to move our only center that can play the wing effectively would be foolish. If you put him with Chara their cumulative cap hit will probably end up being more than $1 million less than it is now. There’s no point in moving a guy to create space when you don’t need to.

This tight cap situation will be for this year only. If Ryder is moved for nothing or is buried in Providence we won’t have any cap troubles for a while.

You don’t trade Bergeron, he is our most valuable player, not flashy but super consistent. That’s one guy you would kick yourself after dealing.

I wouldn’t think twice if it was between bergy and savy, but i think we may keep them both. what’s 4 million to Jacobs? send Ryder to the farm enough said! And like bruins said we free up enough money next year to be able to do what it takes….

B’s, I know what you’re saying and that was my point. A year from now we’ll be fine, but we obviously need to do something THIS year. I understand sending Ryder to Providence and the only reason I’m slightly hesitant is that we can ill afford to let 20-25 goals potentially sit there at Providence, hoping that Caron or someone can fill that void.

We all saw what happened when we “hoped” others would step up to fill in the 36 goal gap that Kessel left.

As for Bergy, I understand his value. Obviously we would be looking at high end prospects and/or picks.

Here’s my main question, though. Does everyone think that Bergy’s “intangibles” are worth 4.75 mil/yr? On a team with $10 mil cap space? Maybe. On a team with none? I don’t think so.

Could he re-sign a cap-friendly deal, ala Savvy, for less annual money? Sure, but again, comes the question about injury history. Do we want to sign a guy to a 7-8 yr term whose career could be finished by a third concussion on Oct. 8 this year?

I remeber alot of people on here were skeptical right away about the Leafs being bad enough to make the Kessel trade worthwhile.

Every year the Leafs play strong at the end of the year because there are a bunch of young guys playing for full-time duty or contracts. And every year people think that it means something.

They still look terrible to me. Bozak, Kadri and Grabovski are their centers. Kulemin is on their first line. Their goaltending is very suspect. For as good as people say their defense is on paper they have been the worst defensive team the last two years. Their PP and PK were the worst in the league last year. Versteeg was playing behind one of the deepest offenses in the league last year. How is he going to handle tougher competition?

Honestly though whatever happens with that pick is gravy. We already landed a franchise player and a promising second rounder when we’ve shown to have been very strong in finding second round picks. Meh, I’m going to call Larsson will be wearing a Bruins jersey for the 2011/12 season.

Any chance PC and/or Jacobs visits here once in awhile just to see what the fans have to say? Do they ever take into account what the fans have to say or think? If they ever did they would think twice about moving Savard. Hopefully if they can’t move Ryder they bury Ryder in the minors and save his salary.

“Chiarelli likely wishes he could have gone about a few key decisions throughout his tenure in the Hub of Hockey a little differently. He must now stare the bind his inability to prioritize, his penchant for overpayments and his generosity with no-trade clauses has put him in square in the face….”

“….But if his aforementioned egregious errors come back to bite the B’s, forcing them to trade their leading point-getter in three of the last four years, just one summer after jettisoning their leading goal scorer, a championship-starved fan-base should have every reason to be disturbed, disappointed and disenchanted with an organization they have remained faithful to through thick and thin.”

this is only a sugestion, but what if we keep savard, keep thomas, keep everyone and just have seguin play in providence for a year? ryder should improve, as it will be hard for him to do any worse, we have nathan horton who should kick some ass. lucic is healthy, krejci is healthy, bergeron, sturm, wheeler (maybe). the offense shouldnt be terrible as long as there is no ridiculous injury bugs like all of this past year. obviously it would be awesome to have seguin play this year, but if its not possible, i dont think it will be the end of the world…

Andy you don’t trade your best player for cap reasons. Do I think he’s worth $4.75 million? I think he’s worth much more. You saw what Mikko Koivu got. Koivu isn’t much better than Bergeron right now and is 3 years older.

I’m someone who takes a complete player anyday of the week over a guy with just offensive production. There was no contest for me when it was the Krejci vs. Kessel debate for us.

Were you against the Savard contract? Even before the Cooke hit he had concussion history and he’s locked up for 7.

As for Ryder risks have to be made. I’m sure he’ll rebound from last year as it’s a contract year but what other player with a big salary would you rather see moved? I know it’s Bergeron for you but I just can’t wrap my head around that one.

Seriously where does Ryder fit in. Horton is here. Seguin is here. Are we going to use him on hte 4th line?

Bruins, Bergeron is a more complete player than Savvy, no question. But having said that, he’s not a #1 center. Our goal here is to win a Cup and Bergy is not #1 center on a Cup winning team.

Look at the last 4 Cup winners #1 centers – Toews, Crosby, Getzlaf, & Staal. None of them are 50 pt scorers, as Bergy is. Savvy is closer to that than Bergy. Bottom line, you need a legit #1 center to compete for a Cup. Bergy just isn’t that. On Team Canada with all of those guys, he barely saw the ice. He’s not going to be a 75-80 pt scorer, mainly due to injuries, as we thought he would be at the time he signed his contract.

Can Krecji be that #1 center? I think the jury is still out. What I do know is that when you have one of the worst-scoring teams in the league, you don’t change that overnight by trading your best offensive center. If a guy who is a great leader, PK, and faceoff guy, but has a lower ceiling offensively, but who has a higher salary AND will be a UFA in a year, has to be the scapegoat, I wouldn’t be happy with it, but I would certainly understand.

I think what’s happening here is that people on this board are using PERSONAL feelings to interfere with a BUSINESS decision. Again, I like Bergy, but I think we could survive what we would lose in the all-around game vs how we would just re-live last year’s pathetic offense if we lost Savvy.

Plus, what everyone needs to be understand is that we HOPE that Seguin is going to be an absolute monster, but that’s also a lot to ask an 18 yo kid. Look at Stamkos his 1st year..

And to answer your question, I LOVED the contract they signed Savvy to – cap-friendly and long-term. He’s one of the best passers in the league and now that we have Horton, hopefully that offensively chemistry will be a great one..

First, I wasn’t bashing Bergy and I’ve stated repeatedly that I love Bergy and the only reason I’m suggesting it is of the cap situation.

What becomes clearer and clearer on this board is that people read what they want to and not everything I’ve said.

When did I write him off? I said that injury history is a consideration. What if he got another bad one? Plus, get your facts straight, he got the concussion from Jones and then got ANOTHER one the following year from Seidenberg. That’s TWO!!

What I’m saying is that I understand he’s a great character guy and leader, but let me ask you something – and I want you to answer this. Understanding that I’m not saying he was AT ALL to blame for the collapse, but when we lost Krecji, we still had Bergy. Did he become the #1 centerpiece, scoring like mad, and making “Mike Richards” type play? No, quite frankly, he just went down with the ship like the rest of them, completely silent on the scoresheet.

I think he’s a hell of a player, but offensively, I think he would’ve done more if he was that bonafide, undisputed #1 center. The fact is that he’s a great player, but not a #1, get on my back and I’ll lead you to a Cup, type player. It’s great that he made Team Canada, but you feel like a guy who barely saw the ice in the Olympics is a #1 centerpiece who is going to lead your team to a Cup?

There’s no point in arguing, so we’ll have to agree to disagree, but as I pointed out, look at every team’s #1 center the last decade, they were ALL better than Bergy.

and i have a question for you…when krejci went down did savard step up? NO he didnt. bergeron also had a torn groin while he was playing in the olympics so tip of the cap to him for lacing it up and trying to help his country out best he could. i agree hes not a #1 center but hes at worst a 2nd line center hes definitely not worth of 3rd line minutes

Let’s be candid here, we’re all frustrated with how this team is being handled right now… there’s more doom and gloom than there should be and it’s beginning to fuck with our heads.

now to the point at hand, do not trade Bergeron. Sure, he’s got injury concerns, but just about every physical, two way player who skates as much as Bergy does night in and night out has some kind of injury risk…

As far as points, he was a 70 point guy before two concussions and being relegated to 3rd line duty, and as a matter of fact, he had 52 points in 73 games to match Krecji’s total (52) but in fewer games (79). To make ANY assumtions based on 4 games playoff games that Krecji missed due to his injury is asinine considering the state of this team at that time.

The problem is not his salary, it’s his usage. I’m still a big proponent of moving him to wing, giving Seguin the third line this season, and moving Thomas and/or Ryder before Sturm comes back off LTIR… if we reach a point when we have to decide how to fit all the salaries on when Sturm comes back, THEN you bury someone.

Andy, what #4 means by 2way was he can play both offense and defense and to add on to that he hits people. I love the guy and I think he’s right at his price range. There was no way you could have predicted the hit from behind into the boards and to make matters worse was another concussion shortly after his return so you gotta wonder if he came back to early. Im not sure if you know what you’re talking about at all.

The point is that you need a #1 centerman to win in the NHL. AGAIN, I fully understand how good Bergy is at both ends of the ice. My point is that I would vote for keeping a #1 center in Savvy over Bergy, who is more of a #2. Plus, the fact that what we would lose a Bergy’s defensive play could be made up in Julien’s defensive system. You can’t replace offense as quickly, as we all saw after Kessel got dealt.

This hopefully is a moot point, however, in that we have some time before Sturm comes back with the cap and we can keep both of them. If nothing else, yes, send Ryder down.

Finally, this was all based on our cap situation. No cap? Yes, I’m sure Bergy is worth more. But that’s not the reality of the NHL today. Every dollar is very precious and has to be spread around for balance. When you’re tight, you have to consider if a guy like Bergy being paid 4.75 mil as a #2 center…

You have a #1 Center in Savard a 1A in Krejci and a future superstar in Seguin so no I dont see the rush to offload your best faceoff, playmaker, defensively solid, 24 year old center. Bergeron centered crosby in juniors and can play the wing as well I believe him and seguin would probably light stuff up. We pay sturm and ryder 4mil and your saying that the extra .75 mil bergy makes is reason to move him. Get over yourself andy you sound like a dumbass.

andy youre just a hater…bergeron is the heart and soul of this team…hes gonna resign whether or not you like him…PC has already said hes in the works with he and chara on new contracts…and youre forgetting that were going to have close to 20-25 mil cap space next summer so you just made yourself look like a fool with your 10 mil or no cap space comment

id rather have bergeron on my team by and far its comical that you can overlook his value to this team. he can turn it on offensively if he was put with wingers like savvy has, rather than recchi and sturm. he plays the best two way game ive seen out of a player in ages. and bergeron plays with heart and soul and takes the blame when he deserves it, rather than passing it off like savvy did last year onto sobotka for the too many men penalty against philly. either way bergeron is here for the long haul and savvy opened the door for his own exit

The “give him wingers” to play with is a crock of shit! If he was a #1 center, they would’ve GIVEN him wingers – hence why (before then deciding to try and trade him) why they went out and got Horton to play with Savvy.

Plus, the TTM call is a hell of an excuse to make to trade a guy out, given everything that Savvy has contributed to this team.

Here’s my bottom line, though. If there was anyway to permanentaly keep both Bergy & Savvy, I would say do everything possible. They are both great centers and bring their own, unique qualities to the team. IMO, though, Savvy is a #1 center. Bergy is not.

First off, there’s no way of defining a #1 center, so to you he may not be, but to someone else who places value on more than just points it’s something else.

I’m not saying you’re right or wrong, or making assumptions as to why you feel this way (because you’ve made your points) but the fact of the matter is, there’s no way you can say Bergeron is a 50 point guy… sure, he only had 52 points last year, but so didn’t Krecji, but why aren’t we making the same argument there? If you ask me, he’s just as likely to score 70+ points (totals he had before the concussions and 3rd line duty) as he is to continue a 50 point pace (shortened seasons and last year? You can’t even COUNT last year… no one did ANYthing).

We’re all entitled to our opinions, and it’s obvious how you feel about him, but the majority of us do consider Bergeron worthy of his contract, and I for one would be interested to see where we’re going to make up for his productivity and impact with the players on contract.

going on with what big said, do you remember that GW goal at fenway winter classic? Bergy put that puck right on the stick and it went in. Sturm didnt even know he scored until he heard the horn and looked into the net. He scored because he had his stick on the ice and Bergy is just incredible with his passing put it on his stick. Bergy can also score himself and pound the shit out of people. And also andy, i have been reading what your saying and you actually say you hate him, but you do imply it asshole.

Hey, Brendan, you fucking clown. Go back and count how many times I SAID “I love Bergy”. I didn’t IMPLY it. I SAID it – NUMEROUS times. Then tell me how many times I said if we could keep them both, I’d do it in a heartbeat(or something along those lines)

Then come back and show me the footprint on the inside of your mouth where your foot had been…

And Mcpuck, I get what you’re saying, but I think, although there is no definition, like many other things, you know it when you see it. Bergy’s a VERY solid #2, but you HAVE to have a #1 center to get anywhere.

Look at all those years we were in the playoffs. What was it – 32,33 straight? We had #1 guys like Espo, Janney, & Oates and I guess you could put Thornton in there. Unless Krecji has a mammoth leap soon, we’d be looking at a couple #2 centers, pending what Seguin does, which we hope can be that #1, but you can’t be sure before he even plays a game…

Alright Andy I will admit I missed a few things skimming through, but to answer all questions, if Bergy leaves who will you get to replace him. He’s a terrific player on both sides of the ice and he drills people into next Tuesday. He wears the “A” because he’s one of if not the biggest asset to the Bruins. I think now that he’s healthy he could put up between 50-60 points like he had been the previous two seasons before his concussions.

Away from Bergy how many points do you guys think Seguin will put up this season? I think about 40-50.

I was just pointing out that if we HAD to trade a center, meaning forced to, I would rather not lose the instant offense we have w/ Savvy. I just think the dropoff in offense would be huge with Bergy as a #1, as we witnessed when Savvy was out last year. That’s not all Bergy’s fault. We do need guys like Sturm, Wheeler, and Ryder to occassionally SHOW UP, but you just know that Savvy gives those guys more chances offensively and is a MAJOR cog in the PP, especially.

Having said that, it looks like we’ll get a stay of execution with Sturm’s LTIR for a couple months, so the point is, at this point, hopefully, moot..

What’s everyones problem with Ryder? He had a bad year last year, many Bruin Players did. In fact I thought he was one of the better players in teh Buffalo playoff series.He had 27 goals 2 years ago and 18 isnt bad last year. Give the guy a break, I think he will do well and he is much better right now than a rookie at wing or Paille. I love how all you guys mock these players, but none of u are in the NHL. U think you know hockey and then mock people on how they haven’t watched Bruins games. Well I have all season, I dont think Ryder was as bad as everyone was saying. Most of the Bruins were off last year. I would rather see a 5 mill dollar back-up goalie gone, rather than a player who usually cna score 20 goals. 20 goal scorers don’t grow on trees.

ur right they dont grow on trees but the come easily via free agency, and for 4 mill a year i want at least 30 goals out of you not fuckin 18 thats pathetic i would take maxim afinogenov for 1.8 mil for 20-25 goals a year than ryder for 4 mill and 18 goals a year. Or paul kariya for 1 million for one year

I know that its eklund but he tweeted this morning that a solid source has said that the flames, ducks, and bruins are working on a “direction-changing trade.”

please dont take ek too seriously but it does make me curious as the ducks have ryan, whom the bruins want(ateast should want?) the flames have defense, regher, whom the ducks want, and we have savard whom we all know has been dangled and caught interest from calgary. I generally get the feeling that the contracts could all line up and picks and prospects could be divy’ed up to satisfy everyone.

Ive been against trading savard but if ryan came back in the deal i may change my mind

Not only does Sturm give us until November to get under the cap…. but it allows the Bruins to showcase players to move. Ryder, Ference, Thomas and maybe even Wheeler.

I still think Savard will stay unless a huge return is offered. With Turco, Theodore, Legace, Emery, and Toskala out there, teams will most likely pass on Thomas. So I see Ference, Wheeler and Ryder going first.

And before I get blasted… I’m not even a Ryder hater… actually there is not a player on the team I dislike! I even liked Wideman…. but Horton is better! I still think a trade of Ryder with a pick to the Isles for a pick and/or prospects would be good. Out of the players “on the block” I think Ryder is the one that most would not mind a minimal return on. But he is a 20+ goal scorer and stays healthy!

I agree with the Ryder “audition” until Sturm gets back. That might actually be a better thing because it’ll be, what, a 1/3 of the way through the season and at that point, a team can see if they need scoring wingers (like us with Satan last yr).

If we can enter the season with the team “as-is”, I’m excited! Would it be nice to get Thomas’ salary off the books, cause we don’t need a $5 mil backup, sure, but we would have one of the best 1-2 G tandems in the league.

As far as Savvy, goes, there’s really no way to get a real return for him. This Kaberle/Ryan talk is useless. They would probably make MORE money than Savard, so what’s the point. It would have to be someone that doesn’t make as much, or just prospects & picks. I just can’t see any way to rationalize that! I would hate to see the Savvy/Horton chemistry never even come to fruition!

hahahaha, 134 other players outscored Ryder last year… that’s something like 4-5 players PER TEAM… c’mon guys. Players like Michael Ryder DO grow on trees… great wrist shot, terrible mental fortitude, offers nothing outside the forementioned wrist shot, but is eating up 4 million in salary. Even Sturm, who is a more functional part of our teams two-way philosophy, is making less than Ryder, and he contributes more on the score sheet on a consistent basis.

and let’s be honest here… as much shit as we give Wheeler for playing so much uninspiring hockey, we have to admit his raw talent/size/scoring touch is buried somewhere in that big soft oaf. he had 18 goals last year, and like Ryder, “can only improve”.

My point is that, if available, for 4 million, you could find two players that are as consistent or likely MORE consistent than Michael Ryder. Maybe 30+ goals combined?

I have to agree with you mcpuck. However, your rational is in the Bruins’ ideal, best interest. I don’t think any team would take Ryder right now, let alone for two consistent, cheap players. You’re right though: if an offer like that DID come in (which I think is highly doubtful) I would ship him off. Right now I believe the best thing we can do is ride Ryder until Sturm gets back and either ship him or demote him. Whoever’s said that before me is right on.

Lmao Kovalchuk locked up until he’s 44. Forget about how ridiculous that is for any player but for Kovalchuk in particular he relies so heavily on his physical abilities as opposed to his hockey smarts. That will start to deteriorate starting in his early 30’s.

There;s so many different things I’ve heard aobut the contract though. My two main questions are 1. What happens if there’s a career ending injury or he’s retired? My knowledge is that if a player is over 35 it will count against the cap regardless. If he retires at 34 does that mean he will count against the cap for the years he’s under contract from 35-44? It might just apply to someone that signs a contract after they’re 35.

2. What’s the buyout situation? I think again if you’re over 35 you don’t buyout 2/3 of the remaining money left on the deal but rather 2/3 of the cap hit per year.

New Jersey could be screwed if he counts against the cap if he retires or they have to buyout the cap hit and not the money left on the contract in a front loaded deal.

To answer Bruins’ question, I think that the 35+ contracts only go into effect if you sign the contract AFTER you’re 35. Also, about the buyout, I believe it’s 2/3 if you’re bought out AFTER age 31 or something. Prior to that, it’s 1/3, which is what, I think, we would only get if we bought out Ryder – meaning we’d have to eat 2.67 mil for the next 2 yrs, as opposed to only 1.33 if he was over 31…

Yeah, the Devils are screwed. Parise in a spoked-B’s uni in 2011, anyone?

bceause everything in the US is all about fucking basketball, which pisses me off as a hockey fan in connecticut where all i fucking hear is basketball crap. ive been saying they should rename ESPN sportscenter to basketballcenter

It’s becuase versus picked up the NHL contracts for tv rights, but I do believe that contract is up within the next few years, and I’m sure Hockey will be picked up again by ESPN becuase it is becoming a lot more popular. I’ve noticed a huge jump in Boston for fans in the last few years, and now that the Bruins will be the best team in Boston for a while, Hockey will just rise even more!!

Depends on all icetime and linemates and PP time etc. I’m expecting him to play with Bergeron and Recchi or Krejci and Wheeler. I also think it’ll take him about have a season to adjust (liek Stamkos), so I’m expecting 40-50 points.

I think it’s going to take him maybe a 1/3 of the season to get acclimated. I just hope people don’t expect too much. This kid is, after all, 18 yo.

With Thornton, no one cared b/c the B’s weren’t expected to do much, and so no one noticed that he got 17 pts his 1st year, or whatever. This squad is a playoff team, so there’s more expected, but I def think we need to give him some time to adjust and adapt.

To answer your question, I think a 40 pt campaign would be productive as a precursor to hopefully a breakout 2nd year..

I think he’ll put up stamkos numbers from his first year if not better. But becuase the bruins are a playoff team and a great team already, there really isnt any pressure on Seguin to be the SAVIOR unlike Joey T where he was supposed to turn the Bruins around from a last place team to the best with no help. Seguin has plenty of help and we dotn consider his the answer he is just someone with great skills to add to an already talented team

if anyone i would want jack johnson in return, because the only time i really got to watch him was in the olympics and i liked what i saw and he only has like a 2.5 cap hit…that would leave us with a good amount of cap room to get seguin and wheeler locked up

The only problem there is, that JJ straight up is not a fair return and if, let’s say, they got Simmonds (although I doubt that would happen), that would be comparable salary, putting us in the exact same boat cap-wise. The difference is, obviously, you’d upgrade at 2 positions. You’d have to send someone along with Savvy (Hunwick?) because w/o that, you’d have someone pushed back as a 7th D…

Yeah, but I’d rather try to get a more even return for Savvy than just JJ, even if we picked up a high-end prospect and a 1st rd pick. It’s pretty obvious we would have to shed salary, but Savvy for JJ straight up, I don’t think I’d do that. Only minus guy among Kings D? That’s not good..

Wheeler is a joke. Apparently the two sides aren’t close to a deal. Not surprising seeing how Wheeler screwed Phoenix over with that loophole that he’d be greedy in negotiations. Let Wheeler walk, he’s useless. We have enough young guys that can step in.

this is fucking up everything now, im starting to get sick of his name (almost as bad as lebron james and brett favre)…i know he’s great, but he was an absolute ghost in the playoffs last year and also the end of the season, im not sure if he can hack it in the big spotlight

oo and i was watching a bruins game on nesn today, and i remembered how much i miss chuck kobasew, i know you guys won’t agree but i don’t really care, the guy was sobotka in a bigger body, just trade wheeler to his hometown to get kobasew back

I am loving the NHL for rejecting this ridiculous contract. Plus, Kovy needs to go back to Atlanta and beg for the $101M, 12 year contract they offered him last year. I hope this guy ends up in the KHL with $100M contract on a team that goes tits up and can’t pay him!!!

Hey man, just wandering if you guys (pekese or Matt or anyone) are still irate about Kovie not coming to Boston last year at teh trade deadline?? It was the bigeest deal when we had a chance to get him and when we didnt it was the end of the world, now thank God we didnt get him, maybe PC and the front office actually know what they are doing… we’d have given up Seguin and others as well as we wouldnt have signed him to that deal so he would have been a rental…food for thought…

If the contract goes through he’ll have no intention of playing it out. He is set to make $98.5 million over the first 11 years (and $95 million over the first 10 years) and $3.5 million over the last 6.

What will probably happen is after year 10 or 11 Kovalchuk will retire from the NHL. Because he was signed before he was 35 the Devils will not be hit with his cap hit and Kovy can sign in the KHL for more money (not 100% sure he can just walk into the KHL but I don’t see why not). So it actually works out ot him getting more money.